Portiere-holder.



. SWENEY.

P R RE HOLDER.

APPLICATHJN FILED JUNE 1, I917- 1,238,214. Pafented Aug. 28, 1917.

nToT. He\e e .5wene UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HELENE L. SWENEY, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ron'rInRE-HoLDEn.

Application filed June 1, 1917.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, HELENE L. SwENnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Portiere-I-Iolders, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a device for supporting a portiere, curtain or similar article wherein the upper edge is to be held elevated or supported above the point at which the portiere, curtain or similar article as a whole is supported. The device is particularly adapted for application to what is known as a French plaited heading portiere wherein the body of the portiere is formed into a series of groups of vertical plaits which project from the face of the portiere and are stitched together at the back. It is the practice so to support this style of portiere that the upper edge extends above and conceals the rod and ring or other suitable support by which the portiere is supported.

The object of the invention is to provide a device which is self-attachable to the portiere, curtain or other article and which therefore requires no sewing or fastening to hold it in place.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which shall be entirely invisible at the face of the portiere and which at the back of the portiere shall only protrude sufliciently to enable it to perform its function.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which shall be formed from a single piece of wire and which thus may be simply and economically manufactured.

These and other objects of the invention will appear more fully in the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

The drawings show the invention in its preferred forms for supporting a portiere of the French heading type on an ordinary rod provided with curtain rings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective showing the p0rtion of the back of a French plaited portiere with a preferred form of device embodying th in ntien in Pla e therein;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Serial No. 172,289.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation partially in cross section showing an ordinary curtain rod, curtain ring, another form of device embodying this invention with the portiere indicated in dotted line;

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the form of device embodying this invention shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view in cross section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

The device or portiere holder of this invention in its preferred form as illustrated is formed from a suitable piece of wire, the size and flexibility of which is determined by the weight of the portiere, curtain or article to be supported, and the length of the upper edge which is to project above the actual point of support. The device should be of sufficient strength to maintain its shape under ordinary conditions of use and of sufficient flexibility to enable it to be bent into the required shape.

The device presents a body or frame portion, an upstanding hook adapted to receive and hang to a suitable supporting device such as the ordinary curtain ring, and an upstanding arm provided well above said hook with a vertical prong adapted to catch and support the upper edge of the portiere. In the preferred forms illustrated the device is made of a single piece of wire, a portion of which is bent to form the body or plane and the ends of which are bent to form respectively the upstanding arm and the up standing hook.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, at and 5, the wire is bent to form the thin, flat skeleton frame portion 1, which when in position extends horizontally and acts to support the weight of the body of the portiere. The shorter of the two ends of the wire is bent upwardly from the center of this frame portion to form the upstanding hook 2. This hook is preferably bent at its shank 3 in a flat vertical curve opposite to the projecting point 4 of the hook, and the center of the hook loop is placed vertically above the frame. The longer of the two ends of the wire is bent upwardly from this plane portion into the form of an arm extending up parallel with and slightly separated from the hook 2. This arm 5 at a point well above the hook 2 is provided with Preferabl verticall arr nged p g This prong is permanently located directly above the axis of suspension of the hook 2, and is provided with a point.

The manner of use of the device described will be understood by reference to Fig. 1. In thisfigure the upper portion of a French plaited pertiere is illustrated. The material 7 of which the portiere is made is formed into a series of groups of vertical plaits one such group of four plaits 8 being illustrated. These plaits project from the face of the portiere and are stitched together at the back as indicated at 9. In applying the pertiere holder the upstanding hook 2 is pushed in between the folds and behind or underneath the stitching 9, the curve 3 of the shank assisting the operation. \Vhen the hook is in place the pointed end a projects from the back of the portiere in position to receive a suitable supporting device such as an ordinary curtain ring while the weight of the body of the port-iere is taken mainly by the frame 1. The upstanding arm 5 is left on the exterior surface of the back of the portiere and the device is so positioned that the upper end of this arm provided with the prong 6 comes near. the upper edge of the portiere. The prong is then caught in the material of the portiere near the upper edge and the arm thus acts to support and hold elevated the upper edge portion of the portiere and cause the upper edge portion to conceal the usual suspending devices such as the rod and ring.

As many of the holders are used as is necessary properly to support the portiere. It will be observed that the holder is inserted and retained in place without. sewing or fastening and simply by pushing the hook into the material of the portiere and in the case of the French plaited portiere preferably between the plaits and behind or beneath the stitching already in place and by which the plaits of the portiere are held together.

Another form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 2. This device is also preferably made of a single piece of wire and presents the frame portion 10 with the up standing hook ll bent and shaped as in the construction already described. In this second form, however, the upstanding arm 12 is bent outwardly, upwardly and rearwardly so that it may extend around the opposite side of the usual curtain rod 13 from which the portiere itself, herein illustrated in dot ted lines at let, extends. The arm is pro vided with the prong '15 which is adapted to catch into and support the upper edge of the portiere. This device is inserted into and held in place in the portiere in the same manner as that already described.

In both forms the upstanding hook and the upstanding arm where they leave the frame are twisted together, when the device is made of wire, which serves to give a rigid and firm structure.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portiere holder formed from a single piece of wire bent to present a frame portion to support the body of the portiere, the two ends of the wire bent upwardly from said frame, the shorter end being bent into the form of an upstanding hook adapted to be inserted into the portiere with its hooked end projecting to receive a suitable supporting device, the longer end being bent into the form of an arm extending well above said hook and formed above said hook into a prong adapted to catch and support the upper edge of the portiere.

2. A portiere holder for French plaited heading portiere formed from a single piece of wire bent to present a frame portion to support the body of the portiere, the two ends of the wire bent upwardly from said frame, the shorter end being bent into the form of an upstanding hook adapted to lie between the stitched plaits with its hooked end. projecting to receive a suitable supporting device, the longer end being bent into the form of an arm extending up parallel wit-h and slightly separated from said hook and formed above said hook with a vertical prong adapted to catch and support the upper edge of the portiere.

A portiere holder presenting a frame portion to support the body of the port-iere and provided with an upstanding hook adapted to be inserted in the portiere with its hooked end projecting to receive a suitable supporting device, and provided with an upstanding arm extending well above said hook and having a prong adapted to catch and support the upper edge of the portiere.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HELENE L. SXVEXEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

